Writers’ Resource: Sample Press Release Template for a Book Launch

Press releases can be an important component of a book publicity campaign. Here is a free sample press release template which you can use to announce the launch of a new book. Each section of the book launch press release template offers an explanation of the type of content or information you should include. Enjoy!

Write a two to four sentence summary of your news angle here. While a summary can be used in either online or offline press release distribution, if you're distributing the release offline (such as via fax), you can substitute the summary for a one-line sub-heading.

City, State - Date - The body of your press release starts here, on the same line as your dateline (the location and date). The first paragraph of your press release body should briefly answer the questions of who, what, when, where, and why.

You can use the next body paragraph of the book launch press release to expand upon the "why" aspect of the news angle (why your book is timely or relevant, or why people should care about its launch), or you can use this area to simply provide further details.

Somewhere in the body of the press release, it's a good idea to have a quote from someone involved. Do not make the quote a testimonial. That's advertising; not publicity, and it can have a release rejected from distribution sites online or ignored by journalists who get their hands on it.

Add any remaining details to the end of your book launch press release body, such as information about where the book is being distributed, its retail price, etc (background info that's not vital to the launch news aspect).

About the Author (use your name instead of "the author" for the boilerplate lead-in)

Include a paragraph after the press release body as a short author bio. This is where you'll mention your own qualifications to write the book in more detail (adding too much to the press release body paragraphs can take away from the news value unless something in your credentials is incredibly newsworthy or timely in itself). A boilerplate often remains the same, or very similar, from one press release about your book to another.

For more information about BOOK TITLE, please visit BOOK WEBSITE or contact PUBLICIST'S NAME at PHONE NUMBER. (I'd always suggest a phone number here over an email address, because it's simply more professional and can make it easier to get interviews set up - this area of the release is called the "call to action.)

### (Use this symbol or -30- to signify the end of a press release. While the general rule is to keep a news release to one page, if it does go onto a second page, use -more- on the bottom of the first page).

If you have addenda included with the release (book cover image, author photo, etc.), you can mention that after your call to action.